Firefighters are continuing to close in on containment on the 18,000 plus acre Whittier brush fire in Santa Barbara County.
The blaze in the Santa Ynez mountains south of Lake Cachuma is now 83% contained, with crews still optimistic about full containment by the end of the month. The fire, which began July 8th, destroyed 16 homes, and 30 other structures. It closed most of Highway 154 for more than a week.
With firefighters making progress towards completely putting out the fire, some resources like air tankers have been diverted to blazes directly threatening structures in other parts of the state. More than a dozen helicopters and 1200 firefighters are still assigned to the Whittier Fire.